Kicking Off the Summer Wedding Season: Jane & Ben 6.21.2008

What better way to celebrate the first day of summer than shooting my first wedding of the 2008 season? Last Saturday I had the pleasure of documenting the festivities at the wedding of Jane and Ben at the Majestic Inn in downtown Anacortes. The high overcast clouds and beautiful location made for a perfect day of shooting! Here are some highlights from Jane & Ben's celebration...

I absolutely love this picture of Jane seeing her bridal bouquet for the very first time!Jane had been teasing her dad for months about the two of them stopping by the bar to take a shot of her favorite Southern Comfort just before he escorted her down the aisle. She wasn't sure Dad would go for the idea but once the big day arrived, Jane soon realized that the bride's wishes reign supreme on her wedding day : )I always try to get a shot of the groom's reaction when he sees his bride in her dress for the very first time. I love the sweet look of satisfaction on Ben's face in this shot.You know it's a good ceremony when the whole wedding party, all the guests, the officiant AND the photographer are laughing!

Are they in love or what?Sealed with a kiss... indeed!After the ceremony and the signing of the marriage certificate, I try to work quickly through photos of the bride & groom and the wedding party & families so the bride and groom can get on with enjoying their day.

I can always count on the younger guests to provide me with great photo ops! I must have taken fifteen shots of this scene to get this one picture of everyone in motion.After awhile of taking pictures of the kids, I realized Jane & Ben were nowhere to be seen. I found them and a group of guests out back sharing celebratory cigars! Fun!
After dinner it was time for toasts and the cutting of the cake... and what an adorable cake it was!Congratulations, you two, and thank you so much for allowing me to be part of your big day. I wish you a lifetime of happiness and good health : )

More photos from Jane & Ben's celebration can be seen here!

Gardenview Family Photo Day!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I'm always thinking of ways to keep my photography services affordable for young families. More specifically, I've been wanting to figure out a way for clients to get family photos to share during the holiday season when they are already spending a lot of money on gifts and travel. One of the ideas I've had rolling around in my head for awhile now is the "quick shoot"... where I schedule several families for back-to-back 20 minute appointments at a reduced rate.

I decided to experiment with this idea by offering Family Photo Day to the families at Gardenview Montessori. My goal was to create group, individual and different combo shots of all family members and provide an average of 20-25 images to each family. Six families signed up to be my guinea pigs and I'm happy to report the experiment was successful! I learned a few things I needed to learn and I am pretty sure I will be planning at least one quick shoot day in November. Thanks so much to all of the families who participated... it was fun seeing the Gardenview kids with their families and I hope you all will enjoy your photos : )
Thanks again to everyone who participated... I really appreciate your patience and flexibility while I worked out the "bugs" in my idea : )

The Coining of a Phrase

I confess... sometimes I mess up and make a wrong decision. The good part about messing up is that I usually learn a valuable lesson in the process, which is exactly what happened a couple months ago when I first met Shelley & Ken and their daughters Keely & Aislin. Shelley and her neighbor had arranged shoots in Seattle on the same date, with several hours between appointments. I got the first shoot complete in the morning, but of course it was raining steadily by the time I was to meet Shelley & her family at Carkeek Park. I'd never had this happen before so I was perplexed about the best way to proceed with our plan. Since I was already in Seattle, I wanted to make the shoot happen no matter what, so I suggested we do their shoot inside using the backdrop I usually reserve for work with babies and indoor maternity work. Despite the setting being different than my typical work with families with older kids, the five of us had a fun time together and I thought I had created some fun pictures of the girls.

Shortly after mailing the image disc, I got a message from Shelley explaining she was disappointed in the photos I had created for her... she felt Keely wasn't comfortable with the camera being so close and explained that she was really hoping for "those signature Sandi Heinrich photos." It's always hard for me to know someone is disappointed in my work so I was a bit crestfallen for a few days, until I mentioned the situation to a friend who pointed out that it was pretty cool that someone felt there was such a thing as "signature Sandi Heinrich" photos. He was right, that is pretty cool : ) It's amazing how much better you can feel when you choose to look at a situation from a different perspective!

I had guaranteed Shelley she would love her photos and she didn't. I simply can't let that be the case, so we arranged to meet on my next travel date to Seattle and I can't tell you how happy I am that we did this shoot again at our originally planned location, Carkeek Park. I had so much fun racing around the trails with Keeley & Aislin and really enjoyed enlisting the two of them in the decision making process for ideal locations for shooting. After looking at their pictures for the first time, I totally understood what Shelley meant and felt really good about the lesson I'd learned. The silly part is that this is something I already knew and it is the very reason I don't do studio work with kids- it's not nearly as fun for any of us and the pictures reflect it. Apparently Mother Nature thought I needed a solid reminder!

Here are some of my favorite photos from our shoot at Carkeek Park. I really, really love the photos we created together, and so does Shelley. Mission accomplished : )
After the sun dropped low enough in the sky, the girls changed into their spring dresses and we headed down to the beach for some shots of a different nature. I don't usually get to do sunny day beach shots with families because the light doesn't get good until after younger kids' bedtime, so I was thrilled to have the opportunity to capture Keely & Aislin in the beautiful light offered up by the setting sun...

These last two shots were Shelley's idea, she wanted something with a gritty texture to contrast the girls' pretty dresses. The walking bridge over the railroad tracks presented the perfect backdrop.

Shelley, Ken, Keely & Aislin... thank you so much for working with me while I learned an unforgettable lesson. I hope you will treasure these photos we created together for the rest of your lives, I know I will : )

Karen & Patrick

One of the things I am really starting to enjoy about being in business is that, thanks to my clients and their above average word-of-mouth skills, I have suddenly become part of a diverse network of people : ) Everyone loves to share their pictures with others so I end up getting to meet grandmas & grandpas, cousins, coworkers & friends. It's always fun for me to learn how people are connected.

Karen & Patrick were referred to me for their wedding photography by one of my best cheerleaders, Wendy, who works for Karen's sister (and who will be helping out on the day of the wedding- fun!) Karen took a look at my site and contacted me right away for her wedding to Patrick on August 23rd. I'm really looking forward to this one... these two have six kids between them which means extra fun times for me : )

The three of us met for the first time a couple weeks ago to discuss their wedding plans and get to know each other. I chose Boulevard Park as the setting for our shoot because it was an overcast day and it's not often that I get to shoot there because it's typically too bright. I had a great time learning how Karen & Patrick met (while both were participating in an iron man triathlon) and how excited their kids are about the wedding. Here are a few of my favorite shots from our afternoon together!My favorite shots are always the ones where people finally relax with the camera and show their true colors, like this...
Congratulations, you two... it was so fun meeting you both and I'm sure your big day will be a blast. I'm looking forward to it!

Happy Father's Day!

My dad & me, circa 1972

It's Father's Day and time to celebrate all the awesome dads I've had the pleasure of photographing with their kids in the past year! It was fun sharing a photo of my mom and me on Mother's Day so I thought I'd do the same with a picture of my dad & me. If my recollection is correct, the above photo was taken at my grandma's house while my mom was in the hospital after my sister was born. I find it a little ironic that this morning my hair looks exactly the same as it did on this day and it's my dad who is just returning home from the hospital after major neurosurgery on his lumbar spine more than a month ago. Today I'm wishing my dad continued success with his recovery so he can get back out on the river bank with all his fishing buddies this fall : ) (I'm also wishing I still had that little blue purse!)

First up are a few pictures of my buddy Greg and his kids Fin and Isla. Greg is such a great dad and friend that he deserves first billing : ) It's Greg's shop that I use as a makeshift studio and I'm infinitely grateful that he trusts me with my own key! (Thanks, buddy!) You can see more photos of Fin & Isla with their cousins here.

And now onto the photos of my clients... Happy Father's Day to all of you! Thank you so much for being such positive influences in the lives of your children. The world needs more wonderful fathers like you!

One final picture... this is my favorite shot I've ever taken of Asher and his dad... Ash is about 7 months old in this shot. It's the picture that reminds me sometimes it's okay to let the drool happen : )

Babies Here, Babies There... Babies Babies Everywhere!

Keeping my photography services affordable for young families has always been really important to me, so I try to offer a variety of rate options so families don't feel the Sears Portrait Studio is their only choice : ) A couple of years ago a client arranged for me to attend her child's Mommy & Me class to take pictures of the kids, and a the idea to offer my services to play groups was born! Instead of families scheduling several individual appointments and paying the full rate for a photo shoot, I join you for your already scheduled play group and take photos of your child there for a discounted rate. I told one of my faithful clients about this service last time we were together (Karin, second from the left, holding my little buddy Maddy!) Karin shared the idea with the mothers in her PEPS group and then we got busy working out the details. I joined the group two weeks ago for their photo shoot and had a great time meeting eight of Maddy's little friends. I'd never done a play group shoot with little ones this young and I was not really sure what to expect, but it was a great success! I thought I would share a photo of each of my new friends : )

Molly

PhoenixMadelyn

WillA.J.

Brooks

Evan

Ella

Grayden

Getting one great photo of a one year old is tough business... getting one great picture of NINE one year olds is nearly impossible- but we tried! This picture was taken right after the one at the top. We figured our best bet was to do a "dump & run"- which would leave the babies so startled they would look in our direction. It worked! Everyone was so stunned by the abrupt change they didn't know what to think. Except Maddy. She was just pissed : )

For information on how to organize a play group shoot, please get in touch!

Thanks so much for organizing this event, Karin. I really appreciate the time and effort you put in to be able to pull this off!

Sometimes a picture is worth 1,000 words

I'll let this one of Asher speak for itself.

Catching Up With Sophia aka The Great Giggle Fest of '08

I've had a few families move out of the area since I started my business and it always bums me out so much to see my clients go! Thankfully most of them return to the area now & then and they usually get in touch with me to schedule a shoot during their visit, which is the case with Sophia and her parents, Stephanie and Chris. I first met Sophia when she was just two weeks old and we have now done a total of five shoots together, our last being last September for her first birthday. Needless to say I was pretty excited to see my little friend again!

We met at Larrabee State Park and spent some time hanging out and exploring at the beach, where I learned Sophia has become *quite* the trooper since I saw her last. At first she was not too sure about the water but it didn't take her long to venture close enough to make splashes with rocks, and she was amazingly steady covering the rough terrain. Here are a few of my favorite photos of our time together...
What an adorable family... I was so excited to learn Stephanie is expecting again in September (although you can barely tell by her tiny baby bump!)
Sophia saw her first star fish on the beach that morning... which she simply referred to as "purple!"
Sophia also learned a new word during our shoot... BUG! She wasn't too sure of the creepy crawly caterpillar when Dad showed her, so she satisfied her curiosity from a distance : )At one point Sophia and I found ourselves engaged in an all out giggle fest... it was one of my favorite moments during a shoot ever- this little girl can LAUGH! Over and over, she'd throw out her hands and busted into an infectious giggle that left me with tears in my eyes and sore abs, and I found myself giggling out loud even while processing the photos. Sophia completely won my heart in those three minutes of laughter!

(Be sure to click on this image to see it in full size!)

You can see Sophia featured in my promo postcard shown at the top of my blog... that's her sucking her toes at age nine months : ) Since we've done so many shoots together, I thought it would be fun to dig out a few photos so you can see Sophia as I've seen her... from a peaceful newborn to a rambunctious, determined toddler. Aaahhh... I love my job : )

Two weeksThree months
Nine Months
One Year!

Stephanie & Chris... it means so much to me that you've kept in touch even after leaving Bellingham, thank you so much for thinking so highly of my work that you keep coming back : ) I'm so happy to have documented the emergence of Sophia's personality for you... she's quite the fun little girl!

Congratulations Alyssa, Class of '008!

I haven't had the opportunity to do many shoots with high school seniors so I was really excited when Alyssa's mom Vicki called me last month after seeing one of my advertisements on craigslist! Last week we met at Woodstock Farm to capture Alyssa at this important transitional time in her life. Alyssa has a passion for photography that rivals mine, so we had a great time "talking shop" while taking her photos. She reminded me a lot of me, in that she feels a lot more comfortable behind the lens than in front of it and doesn't think she is very photogenic. I think these photos speak the truth about that, don't you?
Alyssa told me right away that she doesn't like photos of herself with a full smile so I didn't force the issue because anyone can tell when a smile isn't genuine and I really wanted Alyssa to be comfortable with me. I did manage to capture this candid smile from her when she noticed her mom & sister watching us work and got on their case to turn around and mind their own business : ) Congratulations on your graduation, Alyssa... I wish you a lifetime of smiles and anytime you'd like to go shooting with me, just get in touch!